New Zealand medical cannabis company Greenfern Industries (GFI) indicates it is racking up increasing sales across the ditch in Australia.
The company says it kicked off distribution of its GFI Pharma-branded medicinal cannabis oil tinctures via Australian partner Cannvalate in November last year. Since that time, GFI says it has seen an average new patient increase of 42% month- on- month. So far this year, GFI has more than 500 patients prescribed to their medicines, and of those 144 have returned one or more times. The firm states it has an average return patient rate of 27% month- on- month.
May has been a particularly good month, with 158 new patients on board as at towards the end of last week. The uplift has been driven by the availability of GFI Pharma CBD100, which as the name suggests is a CBD-dominant full-spectrum preparation.
“This adds to our already available Balanced Plus 12.5:12.5CBD/THC and our THC25 medicines,” said Managing Director Dan Casey. “With new products currently in manufacturing we’re looking to see the growing patient base into the second quarter of this year.”
As for sales of these products within GFI’s own borders; they are yet to materialise pending approval from MedSafe – the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority.
GFI’s interest in Australia goes beyond the products mentioned above. The company is also eyeing the potentially lucrative over-the-counter cannabidiol market in Australia and has previously declared its intention to register a low-dose CBD product here. This is no easy feat, GFI isn’t alone and the race is on to see who gets a product over the line first.
GFI is an interesting company with a strong focus on sustainability; a very good thing given the hefty carbon impact medical cannabis can have. In March this year, it was the first New Zealand medicinal cannabis company to be awarded B Corp certification. Last year, it became the country’s first Toitū carbonzero certified medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp company. A big part of this achievement was owning a hydroelectric power station on the Waingongoro River in Taranaki. The facility is located alongside Greenfern’s research facility, indoor growing operation and processing facility.
When it comes to renewable energy, quite a few medicinal cannabis companies have turned to installing solar panels, but we’re not aware of any others that have their very own hydro power station.
